A team from the West hasn't won the Final Four since Arizona in 1997. Are you kidding me? That seems impossible.
In the last 25 years, Arizona (2001) and UCLA (2006) were the only Pac-12 teams to win a Final Four game. Again, that seems inconceivable. UCLA couldn't win a title with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love in the lineup. Unreal.
Since Arizona's 1997 championship, the only West teams to reach the Final Four title game were Utah (1998), Gonzaga (2017, 2021) and San Diego State (2023).
The point is: Arizona is overdue to win it all this weekend in Indianapolis. But so is the Big Ten. So is Michigan, which last won a championship in 1989, the year Arizona was the No. 1 overall seed with Sean Elliott in the lineup.
Arizona players huddle before a game against Purdue in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in San Jose, Calif.
It's even more confusing that the Big Ten hasn't won the Final Four since Michigan State's 2000 club. Over the last quarter-century, the Big East and ACC have each won eight national championships. The SEC has won four.
That brings us to Saturday's Arizona-Michigan game. The winner will surely be the favorite to end those long losing streaks. How can the ’26 champion not be Arizona or Michigan?
Let's hope we're not asking the same questions next year. My pick: Arizona beats Michigan in a last-minute thriller and the Wildcats club Illinois on Monday night. It's about time to raise another flag at McKale Center.
